Fascinating - Rated 
An amazing insight in the different ways there ae of being a human being. The author, a liguist and a Christian missionary, with his family, travelled to and lived among a remote Amazonian tribe,the Pirahas, with the object of learning their (very odd)language so that he could translate the Bible into it. It seems that he, and his missionary employees believed that they would, thereby, save the souls of the Pirahas. Many will wonder, as did this present reviewer, how anybody could think that this could be achieved with a people with a world-view and a language so utterly different from our own. As is revealed in the stunning concluding chapter, the author began to have his own doubts ...
To say that this is a work of anthropology and comparative linguistics, which technically it is, would be a turn-off for a book that is in fact an exciting adventure story and a fascinatng insight into human behaviour (both of the Pirahas and of the author)
It is a well-written, easy and absorbing read. Very highly reccommended.
John Sharp
Life, language and religion - Rated
One of the most fascinating books I have read. The author spent 30 years living with an isolated group of Amazonian Indians whose live entirely in the present and speak a unique and difficult language. The first third of the book is an anthropological account of a strange (to us) and fascinating people. The next third turns upside down the most important modern theories of language and grammar. The last part explains why they converted him away from Christianity when he went there mainly to convert them to his religion. Highly recommended.
Poorly written and edited, badly structured book that can't decide what it's about - Rated 
I was very disappointed in Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes. I found it badly written, poorly structured, over-long and in all, a frustrating read, meandering along like the Amazonian river systems in which it is set, with no overall sense of purpose or direction.
While the first half, dealing with Everett and his family's initial, culture-shocked experiences among the Piraha, held my attention, the second section, dealing with the linguistic uniqueness of the Piraha language I found cumbersome, poorly explained, repetitive and dull - this despite an interest and background in linguistics.
Towards the end, the book gathered pace again, but in a manner that suggested a need for a quick wrap-up, not in keeping with the pace of the introduction. I won't spoil the twist for those who have not read it; suffice it to say that a major turn of events was dispatched in one sentence, leaving the reader frustrated.
The book is also littered with typos, especially in the first few chapters, which grate on the reader and support my belief that this work was cobbled together from a mish mash of research notes and musings, with little effort given to producing a coherent end product.
Bowled over - Rated
This is the best book I have read in ages. Not only is it gripping for linguists as the author gets to grips with an impenetrable tribal language, the epic tale of living with a tribe is riveting. It's the sort of thing I just would never do; even more so with a young family! So this engaging book provides an insight into an otherwise inaccessible world. But for me the most astonishing aspect was to discover a missionary who lost his faith because of the 'in the now' existence of the very people he tried to convert to Christianity.
One day, perhaps Mr Everett will give us an insight into the impact of loss of faith on his wider life, only touched on in the book.
completely fascinating - Rated
This book has been criticised for not being well enough written - well maybe, but it didn't matter to me! The content was so fascinating, and perfectly clearly expressed that I read it quickly, deaf to all around me. His information about the tribe, their beliefs about the world, their self-sufficiency, their lack of past or future beliefs, and their surprise at things like the way we eat when we are not hungry - and so much more, all fascinating. As for the linguistics, that bowled me over - controversial I know, but I hope the studies bear out his conclusion that language is NOT hard-wired into humans in any complex way. I have rarely read anything so completely absorbing.
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